Garment sleeve inner seam measuring device

ABSTRACT

A DEVICE FOR MEASURING THE SLEEVE INNER SEAM LENGTH OF A GARMENT FROM A GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF A PERSON TO BE FITTED IN WHICH A TRANSPARENT PLATE CARRIES RESPECTIVE PLURALITIES OF PARALLEL INDICATOR LINES EXTENDING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM A COMMON LINE AT SLOPES CORRESPONDING TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT SHOULDER SLOPES OF A STANDARD GARMENT PATTERN AND HAVING LENGTHS CORRESPONDING TO THE LENGTHS OF THE SHOULDER SEAMS OF STANDARD PATTERNS FOR VARIOUS SIZES. A TRANSPARENT ARM PIVOTED ON THE PLATE AT A POINT LYING ON AN EXTENSION OF THE COMMON LINE HAS A SCALE WHICH INCREASES IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM THE ARM PIVOT FROM A ZERO POINT LOCATED AT A POINT ON THE ARM CORRESPONDING TO THE LOCATION OF THE BOTTOM OF A GARMENT ARMHOLE MEASURED FROM THE INTERSECTIONS OF THE INDICATOR LINES WITH THE COMMON LINE. BY USE OF THE DEVICE A PRECISE MEASUREMENT OF THE SLEEVE INNER SEAM OF A GARMET CAN BE OBTAINED. IN ADDITION, THE ADEQUACY OF THE ARMHOLE AND OF THE SHOULDER SEAM LENGTHS CAN BE CHECKED.

Feb, 2',v 1971 T. YONKLER GARMENT vSLEEVE INNER sEAM MEASURING DEVICE Filed Feb. 17. 1969 R. m E V W.

Theo/afee YonK/er S Y E N W T T H United States Patent O 3,559,289 GARMENT SLEEVE INNER SEAM MEASURING DEVICE Theodore Yonkler, Bronx, N.Y., assignor to The Photometric Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 17, 1969, Ser. No. 799,696 Int. Cl. A41h 1/.00 U.S. 'Cl. 33-16 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for measuring the sleeve inner seam length of a garment from a graphic representation of a person to be litted in which a transparent plate carries respective pluralities of 4parallel indicator lines extending in opposite directions from a common line at slopes corresponding to the right and left shoulder slopes of a standard garment pattern and having lengths corresponding to the lengths of the shoulder seams of standard patterns for various sizes. A transparent arm pivoted on the plate at -a point lying on an extension of the common line has a scale which increases in a direction away from the arm pivot from a zero point located at a point on the arm corresponding to the location of the bottom of a garment armhole measured from the intersections of the indicator lines with the common line. By use of the device a precise measurement of the sleeve inner seam of a garment can lbe obtained. In addition, the adequacy of the armhole and of the shoulder seam lengths can be checked.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 'Ihere is known in the prior art a method of making a custom-made garment such as a mans suit without the necessity of requiring that the person to be fitted return time and time' again for fittings. In this method photographs of the person to be fitted are simultaneously taken from a number of angles to provide pictures from which the required measurements can be made. Apparatus for achieving this result is shown for example in Patent No. 2,664,784 issued to Fred Waller for Apparatus for Measuring Objects by Photography. Photographs taken by use of the apparatus shown in the Waller patent are projected on a screen such for example as that shown in Patent No. 2,547,425 issued to Theodore Yonkler for Screen for Taking Measurements from Projections. Having the images in View on a screen such has that shown in the Yonkler patent, the operator takes a plurality of various measurements which permit a standard pattern corresponding to the general size of the person to be fitted to be modified so that a garment can be cut which, when assembled, will precisely fit the customer.

While the method and apparatus disclosed in the patents referred to hereinabove are generally satisfactory, they embody a significant defect. Specifically, they do not provide adequate means for measuring the length of the sleeve inner seam which extends from the bottom of the garment armhole to the end of the sleeve adjacent the wearers wrist. In practice of the method discussed above, the customer usually is photographed in his shirt-sleeves. If an attempt is made to obtain the inner sleeve seam measurement from a projection of the photograph of the individual the natural tendency is to take a measurement from the armpit of the person to the point adjacent his wrist at which the sleeve is to end. Such a measurement, however, cannot be truly representative of the inner seam length since the bottom of the armhole of any garment is not located at the wearers armpit but rather at a point spaced therebelow. Thus in practice of the method outlined above, the inner sleeve seam measurement is at best an educated guess.

Not only do the method and apparatus discussed above not permit a satisfactory measurement of the inner sleeve seam of a garment to be made but also some diiculty has been experienced in the prior art when the armhole of a standard pattern is not suitable for a particular individual. The same diiiculty has been experienced when the standard length shoulder seam is not adequate for the particular individual.

I have invented a garment sleeve inner seam measuring device which overcomes the defects of apparatus of the prior art for making garments from photographs. My device permits an accurate measurement of sleeve inner seam length to be determined from a graphic representation of the individual to be fitted. My device checks the adequacy of a standard armhole for a particular individual. It also checks the adequacy of a standard shoulder seam for a particular individual.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of my invention is to provide a garment sleeve inner seam measuring device which overcomes the defects of systems of the prior art for making garments from photographs.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for obtaining an accurate measurement of the sleeve inner seam length of a garment from a graphic representation of an individual to be fitted.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device for checking the adequacy of a standard armhole with relation to a particular individual.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device for checking the adequacy of shoulder seam length for a particular individual.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a garment sleeve inner seam measuring device which is simple in operation and which is inexpensive to construct.

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In general, myinvention contemplates the provision of a garment sleeve inner seam measurement device in which a transparent plate carries respective groups of spaced parallel indicator lines extending in opposite directions from a common line at slopes corresponding to the shoulder slopes of garments of various sizes. A transparent arm pivotally mounted on the plate at a point on an extension of the common line carries a scale which increases in a direction away from the pivot from a point on an extension of the common line corresponding to the location of the bottom of the armhole of each of the sizes to which the indicator lines correspond. Preferably I provide the arm with an opening at the zero point on the scale and with a slide adjacent the scale for marking the end of the sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith and in Which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

`FIG. 1 is a plan View of 4a screen on which images of an individual to be fitted may be projected.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of my device for measuring the length of the inner seam of a garment sleeve.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the device illustrated in FIG. 2 taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, I have shown a screen 10 which may for example be of the type shown in the Yonkler patent discussed hereinabove, on which various images of a person to be fitted for the garment may be projected. While in practice more than two images may be projected on the screen 10, by way of example I have shown only a front elevation 12 and a side elevation 14 of the individual to be tted. It will readily be appreciated that in practice the images 12 and 14 are scaled down from life size by a predetermined factor so that they are half life size or one quarter life size or the like. Moreover, as will be apparent from the following description where that is done the dimensions indicated on my device are scaled down accordingly so that numbers read from the device are in terms of life size.

One of the measurements which must be made in order that a garment be properly tted to an individual is the length of the inner seam of the garment sleeve. This length extends from the bottom of the armhole of the garment to the point adjacent the wearers wrist at which lthe sleeve is to end. The images 12 and 14 which are projected on screen are images of an individual in his shirt-sleeves. If an attempt is made to determine the sleeve inner seam length from a representation such as the image 12 with a tape measure the natural tendency is to measure a distance A from the armpit of the individual to an arbitrary point at which the sleeve end is to be located. By way of example, on image 14 I have indicated the outline of a standard garment armhole 16 by dot dash lines for the general size of the individual being fitted. Since the sleeve inner seam extends from the bottom of this armhole to the arbitrary point at which the sleeve is to end rather than from the armpit to the arbitrary point, it will readily be appreciated that use of the measurement A would result in a sleeve which was too long. The true sleeve inner seam length is indicated by the distance B in FIG. l. While a skilled operator might estimate the measurement from the images so as to make a closer approach to the true measurement B his effort is at best only a guess.

My device indicated generally by the reference character 18 for insuring an accurate measurement of sleeve inner seam length from a representation such as the image 12 includes a at plate 20 formed from suitable `transparent material such for example as clear polystyrene resin. I provide plate 20 with a rst plurality of spaced indicator lines 22 all of which emanate from a common line 24 which conveniently is located along one of the central axes of the plate 20. As will be apparent from the description hereinafter, the lines 22 corresponding respectively to a plurality of garments sizes such for example as sizes 38, 42, 46, 50 and 54 from the lowest line shown in FIG. 2 to the top line. All of the lines 22 are generally parallel and they are arranged to have a slope with reference to the line 24 such that they lie along the shoulder slopes of the respective sizes of garments to which they correspond. Moreover, each of the lines 22 is provided with a terminal mark 26 at its end remote from the common line 24. The length of any line from the common line 24 to the terminal mark 26 corresponds to the length of the shoulder seam of a garment of a size to which the line corresponds. By way of example, the lines 22 may correspond to the right shoulder of a garment pattern.

I provide the plate 20 with a second plurality of lines 28 all of which emanate from the common line 24 and which extend to respective terminal marks 30. As was the case with lines 22, the lines 28 are parallel and are made to correspond to various standard garment sizes. The slope of the lines 28 is such that they correspond to the left shoulder of a standard garment pattern.

The device 18 includes an elongated arm 32 supported on the plate 20 for pivotal movement around an axis 34 located on an extension of the common line 24. I provide means for releasably clamping arm 32 in an angular position around the axis 34. While any suitable means may be used for that purpose, in the particular embodiment shown I employ a thumbscrew 36 and a nut 38. Arm

4 32 is provided with a scale 40 which increases in a direction away from the pivot 34 from a zero mark 42. The zero mark 42 is located at a distance along the central axis of arm 32 corresponding to the base of armholes for the various sizes of garment. That is to say, with arm 32 substantially vertical, so that its central axis lies along line 24 the distance from the point at which the lines 22 and 28 corresponding to a size 38 meet line 24 to the zero mark 42 is representative of the vertical dimension on a garment armholeI for a standard size 38 pattern. As has been explained hereinabove, where the images 12 and 14 are scaled down from life size the dimensions on the device 10 are similarly scaled down. As will be apparent from the showing of FIG. 2, the scale 40 is such that one quarter of an inch thereon represents an inch of length on the pattern. Thus the distance from the common point of the lines 22 and 28 corresponding to a size 38 to the zero point 42 of scale 40 represents an armhole size yof 6 inches. The spacing of the points at which the pairs of lines 22 and 28 corresponding to dilerent sizes along line 24 represen-t the increment in armhole sizes as the standard suit sizes increase.

Preferably I provide the arm 32 with an opening 44 at the zero mark 42 of the scale 40 to permit the actual. location of the bottom of the armhole to be marked on the screen 10. I mount a slide 46 on arm 32 for movement relative to the scale 40. A stop 48 on the arm 32 prevents slide 46 from accidentally being moved off the arm. Preferably, I mount stop blocks 50 and 52 on the plate 20 at such location as to limit the pivotal movement of arm 32 to a useful sector.

In use of my device 18 with an image such as the image 12 on the screen 10 the approximate standard suit size of the individual to be tted rst is determined. Knowing t that size, I place plate 20 over the screen and rst align one of the indicator lines 22 corresponding to the predetermined suit size with the right shoulder of the image. In so doing, I place the mark 26 adjacent the wearers neck so that it immediately becomes apparent if for some reason the standard shoulder seam length is not suitable for the individual. If so, the operator immediately is aware that adjustment at that point must be made. Secondly, I align the arm 32 'with the arm of the image so that the scale 40 is over a point adjacent the wearers wrist at which the sleeve is to end. Having done this, I may mark the location of the bottom of the standard size armhole by inserting a suitable marker through opening 44. In this way, it can readily be determined if the standard armhole will not be suitable for the individual being fitted. It will readily be appreciated that it is a relatively unusual instance in which either of the standard shoulder seam lengths or armhole size does not accommodate the individual being measured.

When the operations described above have been performed and with the arm 32 so oriented that the scale 40 overlies the point at which the sleeve is to end, I may clamp the arm in position by means of the thumbscrew 36. Next, slide 46 is moved so that its upper edge registers with the point at which the sleeve is to end. In this position of the parts, the reading on scale 40 at the top of slide 46 accurately indicates the proper length for the inner seam of the garment sleeve. Once these operations have been completed, the inner sleeve seam for the left arm may be determined by using the proper line 28 on the left shoulder of the image.

As has been pointed out hereinabove, the scale 40, the spacing between zero line 42 and the point on line 24 at which the pairs of lines 22 and 28 converge as well as the distance between the points of convergence and the lengths of lines 22 and 28 all are made to the same scale as the scale of the image 12 with respect to life size.

Itwill be seen that I have accomplished the objects of my 1nvent1on. I have provided a device which overcomes the defects of systems of the prior art for making garments from photographs. I have provided a garment sleeve inner seam measuring device which affords an accurate measurement from a graphic representation of an individual to be fitted. My device permits the adequacy both of shoulder seam length and of armhole size to be checked. It is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

It will be understood that certain features and Subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is Within the scope of my claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of my claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specilic details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

'1. A device for facilitating measurement of the sleeve inner seam length of a garment, having an armhole, from a graphic representation of a person to be fitted including in combination, a plate of transparent material, a normally vertical reference line on said plate, a straight indicator line on said plate emanating from a point of origin on said reference line, said indicator line extending outwardly and upwardly from said reference line at a slope corresponding to the shoulder line of a garment of a particular size, an elongated arm having a longitudinal axis, means mounting said arm on said plate for pivotal movement around a pivot point on said reference line at one side of said indicator line, said arm normally extending generally downwardly from said plate, and a scale on said arm increasing in a direction away from said pivot point, said scale having a zero point on said arm axis at the other side of said indicator line, the distance between said point of origin of said indicator line and said zero point correspondng to an armhole dimension of a garment of said particular size.

2. A device as in claim 1 in which said arm is transparent.

3. A device as in claim 1 including a slide on said arm adjacent said scale.

4. A device as in claim 1 in which said indicator line has a length equal to the length of a shoulder seam of a garment of said size.

5. A device as in claim 1 including an opening in said arm at the zero point of said scale.

6. A device for obtaining a measurement of the Sleeve inner seam of a garment from a graphic representation of the person to be tted including in combination a transparent plate, a plurality of parallel indicator lines on said plate, said lines emanating from a common line on said plate, an elongated arm, means mounting said arm on said plate for pivotal movement around a point lying on said common line, and a scale on said arm, said scale increasing in a direction away from said plate from a zero point on said arm, said indicator lines at said common line being spaced from said zero point by distances equal to respective armhole dimensions corresponding to various garment sizes.

7. A device as in claim 6, in which said indicator lines are first indicator lines each having a slope relative to said common line corresponding to the slope of one shoulder of a garment, said device including a plurality of parallel second indicator lines on said plate, said second lines emanating from said common line and extending therefrom in a direction opposite to said first indicator lines, said second lines having a slope relative to said common line wherein said slope is equal to the slope of said first lines, said slope corresponding to the slope of the other shoulder of a garment.

8. A device 4as in claim 7 in which said arm is transparent.

9. A device as in claim 7 in which pairs of corresponding rst and second indicator lines have lengths equal to the lengths of shoulder seams of garments of respective sizes.

10. A device as in claim 7 in which said arm is transparent.

`11. A device as in claim 7 including an opening in said arm at the zero point of said scale.

12. A device as in claim 7 including a slide carried by said arm adjacent said scale.

13. A device as in claim 7 including means for releasably clamping said arm in a position to which it has been moved.

14. A device as in claim 7 including spaced stops 0n said plate for limiting the pivotal movement of said arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,612,690 lO/ 1952 Cotton 33-1 2,931,103 4/ 1960 Pierce et al 33--75 LEONARD FORMAN, Primary Examiner C. PHILLIPS, Assistant Examiner 

